1991: How P. V. Narasimha Rao Made History

by Sanjaya Baru

Venkataraman’s only concern was that a political crisis at that time, days before the Parliament was to meet to vote on the union budget, would have grave consequences for the economy. He wanted the budget passed by Parliament. By mid-February 1991 Rajiv Gandhi realized that allowing the government’s budget to be voted on in Parliament would not just help secure an IMF loan for India, but would in fact help extend the life of the Chandra Shekhar government. As we have noted, parliamentary approval of the budget is akin to a vote of confidence. It allows a minority ruling party to remain in government till it is displaced through a vote of no-confidence in a subsequent session of Parliament. This would mean Chandra Shekhar would remain prime minister at least until the convening of the monsoon session in July. To prevent this, Rajiv first forced a delay in budget presentation. Rather than allow the budget to be presented to Parliament on the last day of February, as is the norm, Rajiv demanded and secured a postponement to 7 March.